SERC: Public should not expect everything to be addressed in 12 months

SERC executive director Lee Heng Guie said on Tuesday it will take about five years to see results from the Pakatan Harapan government going into reset mode.

PETALING JAYA: The Socio-economic Research Centre has urged the public not to expect everything which was announced in Budget 2019 on Nov 2 to be addressed within 12 months.

SERC executive director Lee Heng Guie said on Tuesday: "This is not a tap where you turn it on and the money comes out. What if the oil price comes down below US$60 a barrell? Can Petronas afford to give dividend to the government?

"Hopefully, this dividend will be a one-off because this will take away money for investment for Petronas,” he said.

He was speaking at the Asian Tiger: A New Journey Budget 2019 Commentary organised by Rehda Institute.

Lee also disagreed that it was an expansionary budget because if the revenue was removed, this would result in a decline in the government revenue.

He also pointed that how much of the tax refunds would be channelled back into the economy was important but this was still an unknown.

"So overall, it is a relatively balanced budget, " he said, adding it will take about five years to see results from the government going into reset mode.